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A few days ago I came across this flower. I was excite for a couple of reasons. First, it was the first yellow flower of the season- everything else has been white so far. Second, I couldn’t easily ID it. Oooh, a challenge right out of the gate! I looked online and reviewed books about…

The last couple of days have been very nice. The snow has stopped for the moment, but the overnight lows and daytime highs are still pretty chilly. Lows in the low 20’s and highs in the mid 40’s. Plus a decent amount of wind. I suspect this is all a result of the La Niña…

I need to relive yesterday again- it was a pretty awesome day. Around 7:30am, the Lab and I were walking around the reservoir. There was a decent amount of life present. Sounds from several species of birds, gulls, geese, and Great Blue Heron flying over in skeins, couples or singly. And it was snowing lightly.…

Up until about a week ago, all the local watering holes were ice- and ice-fisherman covered. I believe that dynamic has changed and the time ice fishing is over- the time of birding has begun. Someone documented a Caspian Tern in our local reservoir yesterday, so as soon as I was able, I headed out…

The wildflower in season has started. This morning the Labrador and I took a quick walk up to see the burn area on Mount Helena. On the way up, we found phlox beginning to blossom; we also found bitterroot leaves popping up out of the ground in relatively large numbers in a reliable location for…

Following a very nice sunrise, walk and a big breakfast, we did a couple of miles across the lower aspect of Mt. Helena. It was the first time being on the trails ‘up there’ in what feels like several months. Some of the trails were clear and dry, some of them had running water, coursing…

The Lab and I had a new experience this morning. While walking up a very slight rise, the fox in the image above spied us and trotted slowly to a fence line. I could see the fox, but the lab could not. As we came over the rise, the fox sat staring at us about…

March was a cold, wet month. While February is the driest month of the year in the Helena Valley, March starts the precip cycle back up. The four-month period from March to June is our wet season. March of 2023 had only 3 days that exceeded the average high temp, but had 22 days that…

Such a nice day afield. By 8am, we had seen both species of deer and a stunning Red Fox. By 3pm we had 27 species of birds and added antelope and prairie dog to the mammal list. The Lab and I headed out to Freezeout Lake early today. In a typical year, this is the…

While today is, astronomically, the last day of Winter, it is, acording to me, the first day of Spring. Let me explain. I have several markers that I use to determine when sping starts. My current progression is three-fold. I begin smelling skunks- that is step one. I begin hearing hearing woodpeckers drumming and calling-…